Parliamentary Questions

128. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 398 of 21 April 2015 regarding the provision in tabular form of the number of persons convicted in court of road traffic offences in 2013 and 2014 and to date in 2015 with a breakdown based on each District Court of those convicted, the number who produced their licence in court and the number of driving licence numbers which were then forwarded by the Courts Service with a breakdown based on each District Court to the National Driver Licence Service and-or to the National Vehicle and Driver File for the application of penalty points; if she has this information to hand; if it will be made available to this Deputy prior to the summer recess; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27879/15]

Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): As the Deputy will be aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service and I have no role in the matter. Section 4 (3) of the 1998 Act provides that the Courts Service is independent in the performance of its functions, which includes the provision of information on the courts system.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the information requested is provided in the following tables. I am informed that where a person is convicted and disqualified for an offence, details of the disqualification imposed including the driver licence number, where recorded, are sent to the National Driver Licence Service. Where the person is convicted of a penalty point offence, details of the conviction imposed including a driver licence number, where recorded, are sent to the National Vehicle and Driver File for the application of penalty points as appropriate. However, where a person is convicted of a penalty point offence and is disqualified from driving, details of the conviction are not sent to the National Vehicle and Driver File but rather are notified to the National Driver Licence Service.
It is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to fail to provide your licence details and, as I have recently advised the Deputy, an arrangement has been put in place between An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service to facilitate the bringing of prosecutions for the non-production of a driver licence in these circumstances. An Garda Síochána will shortly commence prosecutions at multiple locations nationwide, targeting persons not presenting their licences in Court.
I expect this will send a strong message that it is essential that our Road Traffic laws are respected and that there are consequences for the minority of persons who seek to evade them. Ultimately enforcement and prosecution of offences in this area is about improving public safety and reducing deaths on our roads, and there must be no way out for anybody seeking to avoid receiving penalty points.
I can further advise the Deputy that my Department is in ongoing and intensive contact with the other relevant agencies with a view to ensuring that the most effective system to associate penalty points with driver licences is in place. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and I have recently received an update from the Criminal Justice (Fixed Charge Processing System) Working Group on this matter and we have asked that further urgent consideration be given to this specific issue with a view to more detailed analysis being submitted later this year. In addition to assessing the impact of the prosecutions referred to above, this analysis will consider other means of addressing this issue, including an examination of the feasibility and means of introducing a mandatory association between driver licence details and vehicle registrations.

Court Area	No. of Persons Convicted Under Road Traffic Act	No. of Persons convicted under RTA where Driver Number has been recorded	No. of Persons convicted of Penalty Point Offence and where Driver Number has been recorded
ABBEYFEALE	63	8	5
ACAILL	7	1	0
ARDEE	83	11	6
ARKLOW	235	28	22
ATHLONE	314	152	91
ATHY	98	17	12
BALLINA	59	8	3
BALTINGLASS	62	6	0
BANDON	184	57	26
BALLYCONNELL & SWANLINBAR	18	7	4
BEAL AN MHUIRTHEAD	33	4	2
BIRR	68	18	6
BALLINASLOE	265	53	31
BALLAGHADERREEN	80	12	6
BALLYHAUNIS	15	2	1
BALLYSHANNON	68	9	7
BANTRY	94	26	10
BRAY	540	84	48
BUNCRANA	91	25	13
CAHIRCIVEEN	6	2	0
CARLOW	286	47	23
CASHEL	148	19	14
CAVAN	206	46	22
CASTLEBAR	141	28	19
CLIFDEN	29	5	2
CLONMEL	154	23	14
CLONES	21	1	0
CLONAKILTY	160	54	25
CORK CITY	2,461	566	326
CARRICK ON SHANNON	164	24	15
CARRICKMACROSS	146	21	13
CARNDONAGH	64	22	16
CARRICK ON SUIR	67	14	3
CASTLEREA	64	22	16
AN DAINGEAN	13	5	0
DUBLIN METROPOLITAN DISTRICT	9,792	4,416	3,378
DUNGARVAN	139	34	22
DONEGAL	63	6	2
DROGHEDA	331	53	32
DOIRE AN FHEICH	62	7	6
DUNDALK	307	33	17
AN CLOCHAN LIATH	47	5	1
EDENDERRY	75	14	5
ENNIS	770	184	121
AN FAL CARRACH	31	8	2
FERMOY	229	57	35
GALWAY	779	142	91
NA GLEANNTA	43	6	3
GORT	63	12	4
GOREY	465	215	148
KELLS	102	13	7
KENMARE	25		0
KILLALOE	84	22	15
CILL RONAIN	2
KINSALE	96	34	15
KILCOCK	197	19	14
KILKENNY	511	85	49
KILLORGLIN	12	1	0
KILRUSH	97	20	10
KILLARNEY	107	18	12
LETTERKENNY	323	72	41
LIMERICK	2,367	215	139
LISMORE	53	11	6
LISTOWEL	91	12	5
LONGFORD	351	153	101
LOUGHREA	159	39	30
MACROOM	208	80	54
MALLOW	548	95	55
MANORHAMILTON	12		0
MIDLETON	464	135	102
MONAGHAN	123	19	7
MULLINGAR	336	153	95
NAAS	768	113	74
NENAGH	181	23	12
NEWCASTLE WEST	438	57	35
NAVAN	280	47	31
PORTLAOISE	466	67	37
ROSCOMMON	189	73	45
SKIBBEREEN	68	23	12
SLIGO	208	31	15
AN SPIDEAL	19	2	1
STROKESTOWN	64	20	13
SWINFORD	15	3	2
THURLES	159	41	24
TIPPERARY	72	6	3
TRALEE	157	16	6
TRIM	94	6	1
TUAM	352	78	29
TUBBERCURRY	60	11	7
TULLAMORE	384	92	61
VIRGINIA	195	44	28
WEXFORD	475	206	145
WICKLOW	237	48	26
WESTPORT	26	5	2
WATERFORD CITY	682	153	82
YOUGHAL	72	18	5
TOTAL	31,632	8,998	6,121

No. of persons convicted in Court of Road Traffic Offences in 2014

Court Area	No. of Persons Convicted Under Road Traffic Act	No. of Persons convicted under RTA where Driver Number has been recorded	No. of Persons convicted of Penalty Point Offence and where Driver Number has been recorded
ABBEYFEALE	29	1	1
ACAILL	1	0	0
ARDEE	143	25	16
ARKLOW	227	129	117
ATHLONE	562	334	242
ATHY	138	18	13
BALLINA	85	31	20
BANDON	347	124	92
BEAL AN MHUIRTHEAD	37	8	4
BALLINASLOE	355	129	66
BALLAGHADERREEN	89	17	10
BALLYSHANNON	107	14	9
BANTRY	115	38	20
BRAY	521	184	141
BUNCRANA	83	32	21
CAHIRCIVEEN	4	0	0
CARLOW	380	87	60
CASHEL	287	117	86
CAVAN	228	83	60
CASTLEBAR	208	105	88
CLIFDEN	43	6	2
CLONMEL	209	54	46
CLONAKILTY	126	34	21
CORK CITY	2,606	659	446
CARRICK ON SHANNON	130	15	10
CARRICKMACROSS	156	65	48
CARNDONAGH	77	33	25
CARRICK ON SUIR	68	25	19
CASTLEREA	80	27	17
AN DAINGEAN	18	1	1
DUBLIN METROPOLITAN DISTRICT	9,397	3,820	2,893
DUNGARVAN	225	107	79
DONEGAL	72	15	9
DROGHEDA	402	73	59
DOIRE AN FHEICH	68	11	7
DUNDALK	332	21	14
AN CLOCHAN LIATH	41	14	10
ENNIS	1,010	290	207
AN FAL CARRACH	43	17	12
FERMOY	321	85	44
GALWAY	1,021	272	205
NA GLEANNTA	37	15	8
GORT	103	21	14
GOREY	408	183	145
KENMARE	24	0	0
KILLALOE	105	33	24
CILL RONAIN	1	0	0
KILCOCK	222	27	22
KILKENNY	612	120	63
KILLORGLIN	23	4	2
KILRUSH	125	36	29
KILLARNEY	159	21	13
LETTERKENNY	369	125	82
LIMERICK	2,704	166	95
LISMORE	44	13	10
LISTOWEL	116	12	11
LONGFORD	421	241	162
LOUGHREA	256	93	63
MACROOM	280	113	94
MALLOW	663	138	78
MANORHAMILTON	16	1	1
MIDLETON	519	161	115
MONAGHAN	153	54	33
MULLINGAR	467	237	199
NAAS	987	197	155
NENAGH	194	28	21
NEWCASTLE WEST	644	84	47
NAVAN	406	70	60
PORTLAOISE	727	217	156
ROSCOMMON	195	79	60
SKIBBEREEN	80	19	13
SLIGO	214	30	22
STROKESTOWN	84	24	18
THURLES	277	47	31
TIPPERARY	85	16	7
TRALEE	207	24	12
TRIM	94	12	9
TUAM	528	196	113
TUBBERCURRY	42	8	7
TULLAMORE	652	217	177
VIRGINIA	236	104	79
WEXFORD	526	305	259
WICKLOW	375	181	148
WESTPORT	26	12	5
WATERFORD CITY	660	194	137
YOUGHAL	77	26	20
TOTAL	35,534	11,024	8,059

No. of persons convicted in Court of Road Traffic Offences Jan – May 2015

Court Area	No of Persons Convicted Under Road Traffic Act	No of Persons convicted under RTA where Driver Number has been recorded	No. of Persons convicted of Penalty Point Offence and where Driver Number has been recorded
ARDEE	64	6	5
ARKLOW	65	46	37
ATHLONE	304	188	160
ATHY	83	6	5
BALLINA	39	15	8
BANDON	139	45	32
BEAL AN MHUIRTHEAD	6	5	2
BALLINASLOE	144	47	26
BALLAGHADERREEN	26	12	10
BALLYSHANNON	42	6	6
BANTRY	72	28	17
BRAY	236	141	122
BUNCRANA	51	17	14
CAHIRCIVEEN	3	0	0
CARLOW	351	83	60
CASHEL	103	50	37
CAVAN	165	46	34
CASTLEBAR	85	31	21
CLIFDEN	30	4	2
CLONMEL	64	24	19
CLONAKILTY	55	15	10
CORK CITY	1,170	327	234
CARRICK ON SHANNON	89	14	8
CARRICKMACROSS	59	17	13
CARNDONAGH	40	8	6
CARRICK ON SUIR	35	12	8
CASTLEREA	28	10	7
AN DAINGEAN	3	0	0
DUBLIN METROPOLITAN DISTRICT	3,820	1,572	1,172
DUNGARVAN	93	44	34
DONEGAL	29	4	2
DROGHEDA	111	21	13
DOIRE AN FHEICH	60	2	1
DUNDALK	164	15	13
AN CLOCHAN LIATH	15	10	8
ENNIS	441	135	93
AN FAL CARRACH	17	3	1
FERMOY	129	43	31
GALWAY	528	142	101
NA GLEANNTA	6	2	1
GORT	98	23	19
GOREY	187	98	81
KENMARE	10	0	0
KILLALOE	70	32	26
KILCOCK	97	11	9
KILKENNY	435	121	74
KILLORGLIN	3	0	0
KILRUSH	61	24	20
KILLARNEY	58	4	3
LETTERKENNY	200	77	46
LIMERICK	1,260	80	53
LISMORE	11	2	0
LISTOWEL	37	5	4
LONGFORD	191	124	92
LOUGHREA	119	42	33
MACROOM	156	77	58
MALLOW	359	74	46
MANORHAMILTON	6	0	0
MIDLETON	227	47	30
MONAGHAN	91	26	17
MULLINGAR	216	136	108
NAAS	559	163	127
NENAGH	153	37	27
NEWCASTLE WEST	279	30	21
NAVAN	211	43	36
PORTLAOISE	292	82	50
ROSCOMMON	89	28	21
SKIBBEREEN	37	16	7
SLIGO	148	17	14
STROKESTOWN	46	16	15
THURLES	83	28	25
TIPPERARY	47	11	9
TRALEE	73	15	10
TRIM	68	9	9
TUAM	253	104	68
TUBBERCURRY	19	3	2
TULLAMORE	305	105	84
VIRGINIA	128	32	25
WEXFORD	274	171	151
WICKLOW	134	87	65
WESTPORT	10	6	1
WATERFORD CITY	268	63	37
YOUGHAL	28	17	14
TOTAL	16,360	5,282	3,910